Election Day

Lucy has been enthralled with the elections since the primaries. I think it started when our cousin Robb came to watch the Super Tuesday results. She's smitten with Barack Obama. Every time she sees him on TV, she stops everything and says, "There's Bawack Bama!" We are not political and do not talk about who we're voting for around our kids. Lucy has come to this conclusion on her own. The NC primaries were late in the season and her pre-school was a polling place. She was devastated (literally, she threw a fit and cried) because she couldn't vote.

Lucy knows which vice-presidential candidate goes with which presidential candidate. She understands them as "helpers for the guys who want to be president." She gets a little confused when she sees Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin and insists, "That is Sarah Palin, Mommy. I'm telling you the truth!"

Lucy has not stopped asking about when she could vote. She really believes she has a say in choosing the next line leader for the United States. She's three and refuses to grasp the concept that she can't vote until she's 18. A few weeks ago, I conceded and told her that she would be able to vote at home. She was so relieved!

This morning I told Lucy today was the day she could vote, I just needed to make the ballots. She said she wanted a pink ballot and Gus should have an orange ballot. Why not, right? I told her she needed to circle the candidate she wanted to be president. So she made lots of circles around Barack Obama, circling his picture with lots of circles. Then she dropped her ballot in the box.

Gus walks by pictures of Senator Obama and says, "Bama!" He's picked up on the whole election fever, too. When I gave him his ballot, he started coloring under John McCain. Lucy came up, sat next to him, and said, "No Gus, you need to circle Bawack Bama." So he did. And he happily dropped his ballot in the box. We're not counting the ballots until 7pm tonight, when the polls close.

A few minutes after the kids voted Lucy asked me who I voted for. I told her that mommies can't tell their kids who they voted for, they need to let their kids make their own political decisions. All growing up I tried so hard to figure out who my parents voted for, they would not tell me. It drove me nuts, because I wanted so much to be in the know. They wouldn't even tell me when I was in college! So now, I don't want to tell Lucy because I don't have to, just like my mom didn't have to tell me. Poor girl's getting baggage from my childhood. She said, "But I know who Mama McKay is voting for. I know who Mama Sandy is voting for. Why won't you tell me?" I explained that they are the grandmas and don't have to follow the same voting rules as mommies do. I think this will be an ongoing conversation between the two of us. At the end of the day, our kids are learning about their civic responsibilities.